St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-07

erS, and for the revision of the articles
of war, which have remained SubStan-
TALLY unaltered here, while i'll England
and elsewhere military codes have been
modified in accordance with the require
mentS of modern times. The secretary
hopes to submit for the consideration of
the proper committee of congress some
drafts of enactmentS dealing with these
amendments to the law. The secretary
also recommends legislation regulating
and making uniform the puniShmentS
that may be inflicted by courts martial:
defining the app LEGATION of the statute
of limitations
INCASES OF DESERTERS,
and fixing the liability of minors to mil
itary Jurisdiction after enlistment. The
secretary quotes from the report of the
Judge advocate general. and indOrseS
his recommendation that commissioned
officers be allowed extra expenses in
Cured in the attendance on general
courts martial and retiring boards. In
reference to the pay department of the
army, the report SAYS: ."There is fire.
quent clashing of authority between the
war and treasury departments in regard
to payments directed by the former. To
the great embarrassment of the dis
bursting officer accounts are diSallOwed.
and under such authority works great
hardShipS to the disBursing officer, as
on the one hand he is confronted with a
charge of diSObedience of orders,
and on the other with assuming a
liability for which he or his Sureties
will be held pecuniarily responsible. In
order to prevent this, | recommend that
the powers of the respective depart
mentS be clearly defined by a legisla-
tive act" A brief reference is made to
the recommendations of the engineer
bureau relative to the construction of
SeacOast and lake defenseS, and it is
said that there appears to be no reason
for further delay in beginning the i'm
pOrtant work of terrifying the great
harbOrs. Little is said OH the subject of
river and harbOr improvements, beyond
the statement that the report of the
Chief of engineers sets forth the condi-
ton of each improvement and the
amount of work performed during the
| last fiscal year. Owing to the failure of
the last river and harbor appropriation
| bill, there has been
NO MONEY AVAILABLE
for the aScertainment of the depth of
water and width of channel at the
South pass of the Mississippi river, and
| an appropriation for the necessary sur
veys is urgently recommended. COpiOus
quotations are made from the report of
the chief of ordnance relative to the
success of domestic manufacturers in
producing high grade steels, and the
ACCESSIBILITY of increasing apprOpria-
tons for the supply of ordnance: the
experiments with the dynamite torpedo
gun and those now in progress with
shells charged with high explosives
| fired by means of gunpOwder. In con-
| Guiding his report the secretary says:
1.-The result of the examinations for
! promotion under the civil service reg
ulations, which were applied to the
war department in May, were Satisfac-
tory. The total number of clerks ex-
amined was 1,0l4, of whom 963, or 81
per cent, passed, and of this number
353, or IS per cent, obtained an average
! above 80 per cent; 81, or 5 per cent,
failed to pass. their average being less
than IS per cent. l renew the recon-
mendatiOns contained in my previous
reports and those of my predecessors
for the appointment of an assistant
secretary of war and of all assistant at
tOrney general, to advise and assist in
| the legal and technical questions which
daily occur. / must also refer 10 former
! recommendations for the reorganization
of the force of this Office, the est mates
for which, it is hoped, will receive the
| favorable consideration of congress-